Back when it was first announced that Elon Musk had spent a few of his billions on purchasing a massive stake in Twitter, a stake large enough to make him the biggest single holder of Twitter shares, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said that Elon had been invited to join Twitter’s board, saying:
I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.
Elon, at the time, responded in a manner that made it sound like he would join, saying:
Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
However, it turns out that Elon won’t be joining Twitter’s board: Agrawal announced as much in a recent tweet, that included a statement about why Elon would not be joining the board. In it, Agrawal said:
“The Board and I had many discussions about Elon joining the board, and with Elon directly. We were excited to collaborate and clear about the risks. We also believed that having Elon as a fiduciary of the company where he, like all board members, has to act in the best interests of the company and all our shareholders, was the best path forward. The board offered him a seat.
[…]Elon’s appointment to the board was to become officially effective 4/9, but Elon shared that same morning that he will no longer be joining the board. I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input.”
Elon has decided not to join our board. I sent a brief note to the company, sharing with you all here. pic.twitter.com/lfrXACavvk
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 11, 2022
That’s big news not just because of the fact that it means Elon won’t be joining the board as originally believed, but because it carries a big implication about what Elon could be planning to do next.
You see, as a member of the Twitter Board of Directors, Elon would have been limited to a 14.9% owernship stake in the company. That’s a hefty number of shares, a good chunk of the company that would let him throw his weight around, but not enough for him to single-handedly control its direction.
To do that, he needs a stake greater than 50% of the company, something that wouldn’t have been possible as a board member.
In rejecting the board seat, therefore, Elon is giving himself the opportunity to go “all-in” on his goal of making Twitter a free speech platform once again, something that might have seemed all the more necessary to him after lefties working for Twitter lost it when his original ownership stake was announced.
Change from the inside sounds great at first, but might have seemed impossible to Elon once he realized who he was dealing with, something that was quickly brought up on Twitter:
Given his responses after his meeting with the “twitterati” employees and all of the funny crap Andreessen said and deleted. It looks like musk realized there was no political solution and snubbed the board seat to bypass the 14.99% ownership cap. 50.1% here we come.
Given his responses after his meeting with the “twitterati” employees and all of the funny crap Andreessen said and deleted. It looks like musk realized there was no political solution and snubbed the board seat to bypass the 14.99% ownership cap. 50.1% here we come.
— Saul of Tarsus (@Saulos_Tarseus) April 11, 2022
If Elon took Twitter board seat, he’s limited to owning under 15% of the stock and also would be caged via fiduciary duties.
By declining a board seat, he’s either over Twitter already or he plans to go much bigger.
The line about “distractions” here suggests the latter.
If Elon took Twitter board seat, he’s limited to owning under 15% of the stock and also would be caged via fiduciary duties.
By declining a board seat, he’s either over Twitter already or he plans to go much bigger.
The line about “distractions” here suggests the latter. pic.twitter.com/uNqubNH9rL
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) April 11, 2022
Maybe Elon just doesn’t want to be on the board. But, with a net worth near $300 billion, he has the funds to buy a 50.01% stake in Twitter if he wants to, or indeed the whole company, so it’s very possible that his rejection of the board seat offer means that he’s intent on buying a controlling stake in the company.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Will, Author at Trending Politics
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